


Homework Club Is Serious Bismuth

by love_killed_the_superstar



Series: But Beautiful We Three Are [12]
Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Hogwarts, Alternate Universe - The Breakfast Club Fusion, Background Poly, Breakfast Club References, F/F, Hogwarts, Hogwarts Seventh Year, Homework Club, Multi, Polyamory, Side Story, polypearls, polypearls are pretty minor tbh
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-17
Updated: 2018-11-16
Packaged: 2019-08-24 19:15:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,859
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16646087
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/love_killed_the_superstar/pseuds/love_killed_the_superstar
Summary: 14. “Idiots from all different walks of life? What is this, the Breakfast Club?”The Ravenclaw girl hid her laugh behind a carefully disguised cough, and the Slytherin raised an eyebrow.“What does this have anything to do with breakfast?”





	Homework Club Is Serious Bismuth

**Author's Note:**

> I Can't Believe It's Not Polypearls !  
> This is a side story to the polypearls saga. I'm definitely not done with them, by the way, but this has been in the works for a long-ass time because I love Bismuth and I wanted to explore more of this AU. Pearl is gonna feature in this fic but Blue and Yellow will be mostly absent from it I think. I'm still working a lot of stuff out.  
> Anyway lets get down to Bismuth! (And I swear this title is a working title for now... but it'll probably end up being the final fucking title because I'm terrible at coming up with titles!)

Bismuth liked to think of herself as quite the badass on the Quidditch pitch. She was a bloody brilliant beater (even though her brilliance had resulted in a horrific sporting injury that forced her back a year) and an even better Gryffindor captain once Garnet had graduated (even though her dedication to the team had impacted so negatively on her grades that she failed all but one of her NEWTs). The universe appeared to punish the brightest stars, so it wasn't much of a surprise that she had been held back in her seventh year yet again.

She should have been angry. Being held back once was bad enough, but having to go through those exams twice! Having to bunk with kids two years her junior! Having to adjust the size of her uniform again!

Though, it felt strangely like being frozen in time. With her original group of friends leaving her behind (she was still bitter Rose hadn't returned any letters she'd sent) and the few friends she'd made in her first repeat of second year moving on without a second thought (none had been close enough for her to bother writing to) it felt as though she were a ghost, stuck drifting through the walls of Hogwarts without any sort of purpose. At least there would be Quidditch season to look forward to.

That was her first thought when arriving at Hogwarts. She rode in the carriage with a trio of excited Gryffindors who never gave her a moments notice. She listened with disinterest as they prattled on about summer crushes, lip gloss, television awards. Part of her wished she could be so caring about the trivial things; but for her, she had only felt full of energy while flying towards a bludger with a bat in her hand, casting a brilliant patronus, transfiguring dirt into a perfectly sharp sword. It was something that her muggle mother despaired about often, always searching for some way to bond with her daughter. Her father understood somewhat, being a half-blood himself, but that was before he had shagged his department's secretary and broken her mother's heart. Even if they had been close once, the past was the past.

Throughout the welcome feast she made idle conversation with her new dorm mates (“Back again, Bismuth? How many times is it now?”) and stared off into the distance. She missed being around Rose and Garnet. The Crystal Gems had been disbanded around the time of their graduation, and she'd never gotten a final duel with them. The atmosphere of a dimly lit duelling room always gave her a rush, and the rebellious nature of an underground club for magical combat was... exhilarating.

Still, she reasoned, all good things must come to an end, and surely life would pick up the pace again once Quidditch practice resumed.

As the Gryffindor table began to file out, Bismuth was stopped by Madam Ruby.

“I need to speak with you, Bismuth. Follow me.”

Bismuth followed her through several passages and up three flights of stairs, until they reached the smallest divination classroom. As the professor of flying and referee of Quidditch at Hogwarts, the closest thing to an office she had was the Quidditch supply cupboard, but as Madam Sapphire's wife, one of the spare divination classrooms would be acceptable for a private discussion between professor and student.

Madam Ruby gestured for her to take a seat, and Bismuth stared down at the crystal ball sitting on the small round table between them.

“Now, I know you were a good friend of my daughter's, and I know you're a brilliant player. But as a professor who wants the best for your future, I've had to do a lot of thinking over summer.”

She frowned. “I don't understand.”

Madam Ruby sighed heavily.

“Bismuth, this will be your second time sitting the NEWT exams, and this is the last chance we can give you to succeed.” She made a sour face. “The ministry is very particular with how many times a student can take NEWTs. Last year you had a poor attendance, a lot of incomplete homework assignments and you failed most of your exams, without a reasonable excuse.”

“I was helping my Quidditch team, you know that!” argued Bismuth. “You said so yourself, we couldn't have pulled through without my leadership! And I couldn't remember every little thing I covered in sixth year, so what?”

“You need to be more focused this year, kiddo. Listen, Sapphy – I mean, Madam Sapphire, is starting a homework club for students who need extra help with their NEWTs. I mentioned your name to her, and it's all arranged. It'll be three times a week, 6 through 8.”

“But Madam Ruby, I can't do that! It'll interfere with Quidditch practice, the captain can't blow off practice three times a week! I can't do that.”

“It's non-negotiable, Bismuth. It's a mandatory extra class for you so that you don't fall behind. So, I've made a tough call.” Madam Ruby sighed heavily. “I wish it didn't have to be this way. But as your head of house I'm removing your title of Quidditch Captain.”

Bismuth's veins pooled with ice, and she wrenched her gaze away from her warped reflection in the crystal ball to stare up at Madam Ruby in horror.

“You... you can't!”

“This is for your academic future, Bismuth. It is not a decision I made lightly – you have been one of Gryffindor's finest captains, and by far the most dedicated to helping your team. You can still try out for the team, but only under the condition that you keep on track with your assignments and perform well in your classes.” Fidgeting with her robes, Madam Ruby's eyes lowered. “My mind is made up.”

Scraping back her chair, Bismuth stood up, hands balling into fists.

“This is bullshit. The team needs me!”

“The team is gonna be fine. But you need to put yourself first this time, Bismuth.”

“Nobody is more qualified to lead that team than I am! Nobody's more Gryffindor than me!”

She wrenched the crystal ball from its holder and threw it down onto the ground with a loud thud, before storming out.

 

…

 

There was no way of getting out of it. She'd argued, bargained and refused to accept the demotion, but Madam Ruby wasn't buckling, and it seemed that the rest of the faculty had been made aware of the decision. She had been summoned to Madam Sapphire's spare classroom once more, a few days following her outburst, and she was hoping that it would be Madam Ruby herself, begging for Bismuth to come back and lead the team to victory.

Instead, she'd walked in on some kind of homework club.

“So this is the big show,” Bismuth drawled, resting against the doorway. The spare classroom had been rearranged, with all but four desks pushed to the back of the room. The remaining had been arranged into a square, pushed up against each other to create a larger workspace.

“You're late,” shot back a Ravenclaw girl with a long braid, glaring at Bismuth. Her arms were folded tightly, and her quill was stood upright in an ink pot beside her paper. Just her luck, she'd be stuck with a girl who constantly had a stick up her ass.

“Correction,” uttered a girl with a shock of tight magenta curls, who looked like she hadn't washed her hair or face in days. “It's impossible for her to be late, because Madam Sapphire still hasn't shown up.”

She was slouched over her desk, wiping her inky hands down her once-beige sweater. Her tie, hanging loosely around her neck, displayed Slytherin colours.

The third girl, with fluffy blonde hair and soft eyes, spoke up.

“Madam Sapphire is sorting out the term plans, I think.”

She fiddled with her Hufflepuff tie, and Bismuth groaned.

“Idiots from all different walks of life? What is this, the fucking Breakfast Club?”

The Ravenclaw girl hid her laugh behind a carefully disguised cough, and the Slytherin raised an eyebrow.

“What does this have anything to do with breakfast?”

Bismuth noisily pulled out her chair and sat down in between the Hufflepuff and the Slytherin.

“So, who are you gals I'm destined to spend my precious evenings with?”

“Obsidian Snow,” the Ravenclaw said plainly. “Seventh year. And this here is Lacey Agate.”

“You're from the Agate family?” Bismuth whistled. “I'm in with the big leagues now, huh.”

“Please don't compare me to Holly Blue and the rest of the Agate clan,” Lacey said in disgust, visibly shuddering. “Pureblood supremecy bullshitters, the lot of them. Everyone calls me Crazy Lace, and you gotta embrace those kinda nicknames or they're used against you.”

“And I'm Jasper Biggs!” the young Hufflepuff girl piped up, with an eager smile. “I barely passed my OWLs first time around, so they wanted to keep an eye on me before the NEWTs. They thought I would benefit from the study group Madam Sapphire set up.”

Bismuth groaned. “So this really is a study group for failing NEWTs.”

“We all know who you are, of course.” Obsidian was eyeing her critically. “Bismuth Aduba, former Gryffindor Quidditch captain, currently the oldest student in Hogwarts besides the ghosts.”

Bismuth gave her the finger, and Crazy Lace snorted.

“So what, Snowflake? That's her business.”

“Don't call me Snowflake.” The response was automatic. “Since this will be Bismuth's third time resitting the exams, she should be an expert. We'll be looking for her to set an example for Biggs, here.”

“My name's Jasper-” Biggs began.

“You're Biggs,” Crazy Lace said simply, and the matter was dropped.

“Anyway, before you bother making fun of me, you're here too, in case you forgot,” Bismuth retorted, eyeing Snowflake critically. “Why _is_ that anyway, little miss perfect?”

Snowflake's cheeks darkened.

“It's none of your business why I'm here,” she said icily.

“Ugh, calm down,” groaned Crazy Lace. “She's here because I dragged her along, all right? I threatened to punch someone in the face if Snowflake couldn't come too.”

“It's Obsidian,” Snowflake said again.

“Dragging your friends down with you? That's kinda shitty, isn't it?” Bismuth drawled, waiting to get a rise out of her. Crazy Lace bristled, but Snowflake reached over to squeeze her arm.

“Not at all,” she cut in smoothly. “We've always done our homework together. Besides, scheduling a time to study is a very efficient way of producing better work.”

“You say that like anyone's going to work in this fucking atmosphere.”

“Why wouldn't we? Unless you're planning on being disruptive the whole time, of course.”

Bismuth and Snowflake glared at each other, holding one another's gazes for what felt like an eternity. Finally, the silence was broken when Crazy Lace made a fart noise into her hand.

“This is stupid. Snowflake, can I copy your assignment?”

“It's Obsidian, and no you can't. But you can read through it and bullet point key points you want to make in your own essay.”

That sounded a lot like copying to Bismuth, but she was tired of picking at these two anyway. She pulled out a generic jotter pad from her bag and slammed her textbook down, taking satisfaction in the way it made little Biggs jump slightly. Her practice question on the merits of a counter-charm to a hiccoughing solution wasn't going to write itself, so she might as well take this time to work through it.

Crazy Lace tore a page from Snowflake's A4 notebook and began scribbling on it with a biro, glancing over at Snowflake's essay draft on what looked to be the history of Scarpin's Revelaspell as Snowflake herself began to write up her finished copy in ink, on a neatly pressed piece of parchment. Biggs was noisily rummaging around in her own bag, bringing out pastel highlighters of every colour, various fruit-shaped rubbers, and even novelty pencil sharpeners in the shape of Crying Breakfast Friends characters. As they scattered across the table, a weeping eggcup pencil sharpener rolled off the desk. Crazy Lace caught it before it hit the floor, and then casually pocketed it while Bismuth looked on disapprovingly.

Well, she was done with this bullshit group of delinquents. She grabbed her MP3 player from her bag (always thanking the stars her mother was practical enough to buy her dinosaur-aged equipment that had over 40 hours of battery life in them, perfect for an isolated region like Hogwarts) and plugged herself in, not wanting a reason for them to try and talk to her while she was making an effort to work through this dumb practice question that really didn't mean a whole fucking lot in the grand scheme of things.

As she plugged herself in, Madam Sapphire swept through the doors.

“I'm so glad you all made it,” she said breezily, ignorant to the obvious kiss stain on the corner of her mouth. “I had some important business to deal with first.”

“Your wife?” guessed Crazy Lace with a wide grin.

“Why, yes. But that's not important now. We should get started. Have you all introduced yourselves?”

“I'm the broomhead Gryffindor, she's the bumbling Hufflepuff, she's the rich kid Slytherin, and she's the Ravenclaw know-it-all,” Bismuth deadpanned. “We're all fucking stereotypes.”

“Bismuth,” Madam Sapphire said sharply, leaning back against her desk with lips pursed in disapproval. “There's no need to be so confrontational. You are all wonderful students, who just happen to require some academic help. I'll be here to proofread any homework you're working on, to check for spelling or grammar errors, and to help weed out any incorrect information. Of course, you can all help each other out, too. You all have different strengths, and if you work together, I'm sure the four of you can be very beneficial to one another.”

Crazy Lace stuck a hand up in the air with a bored expression.

“Me and Snowflake always work together anyway, so why do we have to be here?” she drawled.

“Because gaining different perspectives is important,” Madam Sapphire replied smoothly. “Now, this session goes on until eight, so get to work, okay? I'll be marking if you'd like me to assist with anything. Don't be a stranger.”

Exchanging a sour look with Crazy Lace, Biggs and Snowflake, Bismuth set back to work.

 

...

 

The rest of the session went by in a blur. Bismuth made no effort to involve Madam Sapphire in her homework, although she could've sworn she took a cursory glance over at it while helping Biggs with her own paper. While it was infuriating having to sit between someone who jiggled their leg constantly under the table and someone else who insisted on laying out their entire stationary set on the desk, she had to admit that she'd managed to keep a focus strong enough to make some good progress on her own work.

When the session came to a close, Crazy Lace and Snowflake left as soon as possible, and Biggs decided it was a good enough time to start buddying up to Bismuth.

“Do you know why nobody wants to call me by my name?” Biggs asked dejectedly as she and Bismuth packed up their things. “I've said it so many times already, it's Jasper, but Obsidian and Lacey ignored me. Everyone back home calls me Jasper.”

Bismuth shrugged. “There was a girl in my original grade, Jasper Burakgazi, who was so infamous by the end that if anyone so much as said the name Jasper people assumed which one you were talking about. So, all the other Jaspers in the school started going by other names. Like, there's a girl in the year below, Jasper Skinner, who everyone calls Skinny. And one who graduated last year, called Ocean because she lives on one of those islands up in the Scottish highlands that can only be accessed by enchanted ship... Or actually, she might have been obsessed with the Ocean's franchise. I can't remember which, you know how kids talk.”

“The younger grades call me Jasper though,” muttered Biggs.

“Because they didn't grow up being bullied by Jasper Burakgazi. She was a machine on the Quidditch pitch, a rival beater. We butted heads a few times over the years.”

They waved goodbye to Madam Sapphire and headed down, Biggs asking for an in depth explanation of what exactly the Ocean's franchise was.

As Bismuth's explanation came to a close she paused mid-step, noticing they were headed towards the Great Hall. “Where are we off to, Biggs? The kitchens will be closed by now. I figured you'd know that, being a Hufflepuff.”

Biggs smiled shyly up at her. “You don't know? There's a new duelling club starting up tonight. One of the girls in my dorm was telling me, a seventh year prefect in my house got the club officiated.”

Something ticked in the back of her mind.

A short redhead, scrawny and pale, waving a wand of aspen wood and muttering a spell under her breath that sent her flying back several paces. Her tie, gliding like a snake through the dark as her heels dug into the ground, fighting the recoil from the spell, yellow with black stripes.

_The only Hufflepuff in the Crystal Gems to ever beat her._

“This prefect. She ginger?”

Biggs hummed. “More of a strawberry blonde, but-”

“Cream aspen wand?”

“I'd say the colour of ivory-”

“Shut up about the specifics! The Renegade is running the duelling club?”

Biggs' brow furrowed in confusion. “Renegade? It's Pearl Bisera, she's a Hufflepuff prefect.”

Bismuth's grin widened, and she grabbed Biggs' hand before marching over to the heavy wooden doors and throwing them open.

Inside were a group of students gathered, varying ages and houses, surrounding a student stood on the duelling stage and gesturing wildly. She appeared to be prattling on about safety procedures, but all Bismuth saw was the fiery passion of a student she had only ever seen in underground duelling sessions. It was as though she didn't exist outside of the room of requirement, away from the Crystal Gems. Yet, here she was.

“You should see her duel,” Bismuth grinned. “She was only a second year when she took me on! She won, too.”

Biggs stared on in wonder, cheeks a faint pink, and Bismuth realised as an afterthought that they were still holding hands.

Oh well. Best not to overthink it.

“...And, most importantly, we should be having fun, learning from each other, and exercising caution,” the prefect finished, clapping her hands together. “Now, if everyone registers and finds a duelling partner, we can begin having timed matches. Over the course of the next few weeks, there will be opportunities to learn a few new spells too, and we'll talk about utilising more unusual charms for unexpected results. Any questions?”

A murmur swept over the crowd, and Pearl smiled.

“Good.”

The crowd dispersed a little, swarming around the desk where some of Pearl's helpers, Peridot Palli and Amethyst Montero, were sat waiting with the sign up sheets. Bismuth, meanwhile, marched straight towards Pearl, who was taking the moment of solitude to gulp back a glass of water. She barely even noticed she'd dragged Biggs along too.

“Hey, Renegade!”

Pearl tensed up a little at her nickname, and glanced over at Bismuth, eyes widening in disbelief.

“Wait, Bismuth Aduba? Is that seriously you?!”

“In the flesh, baby.” Bismuth grinned. “You sure have grown, I don't think I've said a word to you since you were a second year scamp.”

Pearl's face flushed with pride. “I'm amazed you even remember me. I was just a kid following Rose around everywhere. But I – I thought you'd left by now?”

Bismuth scratched the back of her head.

“Yeah, me too. Guess they just love torturing me, huh?”

“Guess so.” Pearl blew a strand of hair away from her face, sheepishly. “Ahh, I was nervous up there. I'm no good at these things, did I sound nervous?”

“You sounded like a prefect,” Bismuth teased. “Confident, high and mighty, a stickler for the rules...”

“Rules are made for a reason,” Pearl protested, “especially in an activity that involves firing at one another with spells! _Rose_ never put any proper rules into place and remember what happened? Constant injuries. I got cuts and bruises and sprains all the time, and – remember when someone set off that mass obliviate charm?? Everyone forgot their identities for a week! It's lucky the person casting it did such a botched job or I doubt our memories would have ever come back.”

“Yeah, but the Crystal Gems was so much fun!” Bismuth exclaimed, dropping Biggs' hand ad gesturing wildly around her. “Sure, it wasn't 'official', and sure, we all got detention when the jig was up. But it was about what we felt in our hearts! Who doesn't love a little revolution?”

“My mother, for one. She sent me a howler when she found out what I'd been up to,” Pearl said flatly. “Telling me how awful it was that I was running around with a bunch of 'feminist hooligans'.”

“How archaic of her.”

“Er, Bismuth?” piped up Biggs awkwardly, tapping her on the arm. “We still need to sign up...”

“Oh, hello, Biggs,” Pearl said pleasantly, switching right back to cheerful prefect mode. “How are you finding sixth year? And, uh, how do you know Bismuth here?”

“It's cool,” she muttered. “Me and Bismuth met through the homework club that Madam Sapphire started.”

“Oh right, I heard about that. I think it's a great idea, personally. There's nothing wrong with getting a little extra help.”

“You wouldn't say that if you knew the assholes we were stuck in it with,” Bismuth grumbled. “Smarmy ravenclaw and a slytherin chick with sticky fingers.”

“It'll get better,” Pearl sympathised. “Who knows? You guys could end up the best of friends.”

“I doubt it,” Bismuth said, rolling her eyes. “But thanks for trying to be optimistic about it. We sure could use some of that right now.”

“Well, Biggs here is always a welcome face when I'm setting up common room meetings,” Pearl said cheerfully, hands on her hips. “So I'm sure she'll rub off on the rest of the group. Now, I suggest you two go and sign up, if you want to duel. You're partnering up, right?”

“Er...” Bismuth glanced over at Biggs awkwardly, wondering if there was a way to ask for a rematch against Pearl instead, but stopped as she caught the look of unguarded hope on Biggs' face. It felt like the equivalent of a puppy hoping for a walk. And Bismuth was _always_ nice to puppies. “...Yeah, guess we are. We should get going.”

Biggs' face brightened and she began leading Bismuth away, launching into an excited spiel about how cool this was going to be, and how much fun they would have mastering new defensive spells, and maybe Bismuth could teach her a few tricks from back in the day?

Bismuth craned her neck and waved a hurried goodbye to Pearl, who grinned and gave her a knowing look.

_You guys could end up the best of friends._

_Well,_ thought Bismuth to herself, _baby steps._

 

**Author's Note:**

> This is multi-chaptered but considering I've been working on this one chapter alone for like 2 years now... it might take a while for the next instalment. But I saw Fantastic Beasts 2 the other day and it gave me the urge to write MY version of Hogwarts AU ^^ so take from that what you will.  
> Please let me know what you think!


End file.
